Symphonies Numéros 2 & 5

Description

ATMA Classique is proud to present the Symphonies No. 2 & 5 by Jean Sibelius with Yannick Nézet-Séguin leading the Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal.
Recorded at the Maison symphonique de Montréal, this new release is part of our complete cycle of Sibelius's symphonies, launched in 2019.
The two symphonies featured in this recording are among the most appreciated works of Jean Sibelius. Composed about fifteen years apart, they each occupy a pivotal position in the stylistic evolution of the composer: Symphony No. 2 marks the conclusion of his first stylistic phase characterized by national romanticism, as the patriotic spirit that swept through artistic creation in Finland at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century was called, while Symphony No. 5 establishes the foundations of what would become the composer's mature language where extreme concentration and austerity are pushed to their limits. Since their triumphant premieres in Helsinki over a hundred years ago, the concert popularity of these two works has never waned.
Artistic director and principal conductor of the Orchestre Métropolitain since 2000, with which he committed "for life" in September 2019, Yannick Nézet-Séguin became, in September 2018, the third music director of the Metropolitan Opera (MET) in New York; music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 2012, he became its music and artistic director in 2023, extending his contract until 2030. In 2016-2017, he was named honorary lifetime member of the European Chamber Orchestra. Additionally, in 2018, after ten years at the helm of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, he remains its honorary conductor.